Leading US pharmaceutical companies go on trial Monday charged with stoking the opioid epidemic that has ravaged communities and left hundreds of thousands dead or overdosed across the country.
Tens of billions of dollars is at stake after last-minute efforts failed to agree a settlement between the companies and the states, counties, towns and native American tribes who have brought massive civil lawsuit.
The trial could be the most costly since litigation against tobacco companies in the 1990s, which showed cigarette companies cynically hiding and exploiting the dangers of tobacco for profits.
The plaintiffs in the first federal lawsuit in the opioid addiction crisis say manufacturers and distributors knew the dangers of the highly addictive painkillers they pumped into communities in the past 15 years, ignoring warning signs as they reaped billions in profits.
The trial in Cleveland, Ohio, pits 2,300 plaintiffs against giants of the pharmaceutical world including drug distributors .

Trial set to open in massive US opioid lawsuit

PTI Automatic

Prince Harry has admitted he and his brother are now "on different paths" and have "good days" and "bad days" in their relationship.
The Duke of Sussex has been plagued by rumours in recent months of a rift between him and Prince William, and in an interview with ITV he acknowledged that "inevitably stuff happens" given their high-profile role and the pressure the family faces.
Speaking during his recent tour of southern Africa with his wife Meghan Markle, he said: "We are brothers. We will always be brothers.
"We are certainly on different paths at the moment but I will always be there for him as I know he will always be there for me.
"We don't see each other as much as we used to because we are so busy but I love him dearly.
"The majority of the stuff is created out of nothing but as brothers, you know, you have good days, you have bad days."
Meghan, who has also been rumoured to have feuded with Kate Middleton, described the past year as "hard" and said her British friends warned ..

Prince Harry admits he and Prince William are 'on different paths'

The United States hopes Beijing will ease restrictions on meetings between US diplomats and local officials after Washington imposed reciprocal measures against China, the US ambassador said Monday.
Washington angered Beijing last week after it announced that Chinese diplomats will now have to notify the State Department before meeting with American officials.
In China, US diplomats have to get permission from several levels of the Chinese government to meet local officials or academics, only to see such requests often denied.
"Even if we get permission sometimes it can get cancelled at the last minute. That's been a frustration over a long period of time," US ambassador Terry Branstad said at a press briefing with a group of foreign journalists.
"We hope that the outcome (of the reciprocal measures) will be to get better access for US diplomats here in China," he said.
The US counter-measure comes as diplomatic tensions between China and the United States have risen over a host of ...

US hopes China will ease restrictions on diplomats

China's defence minister made an uncompromising call Monday for the "reunification" of Taiwan with the mainland, telling a high level defence forum that the process was something "no force" could stop.
Self-ruled Taiwan is viewed by China as a renegade province which will eventually be unified with the mainland, by force if necessary, after the two sides split in 1949 after a civil war.
China will not stop in its efforts towards "realising the complete reunification of the motherland," Defence Minister General Wei Fenghe told defence ministers and officials from across Asia at the Xiangshan Forum in Beijing.
"China is the only big country in the world that has not yet achieved complete reunification," he said.
"It is something that nobody and that no force can stop." Relations between Taipei and Beijing have deteriorated since the 2016 election of President Tsai Ing-wen, whose party refuses to accept that Taiwan is part of "one China".
Since then China has poached a number of ...

Beijing says no one can stop Taiwan 'reunification'

US President Donald Trump has dispatched his deputy Mike Pence to Turkey to demand a ceasefire in Syria, as Ankara rebuffed international pressure to curb its deadly offensive against Kurdish forces.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed on Wednesday that Turkey's operation -- which has been facilitated by the withdrawal of US troops from northern Syria -- would continue.
That came as an extraordinary letter emerged in which Trump warned Erdogan: "Don't be a fool".
Sent the day Turkey launched its incursion into northeastern Syria, Trump said history risked branding him a "devil".
On Wednesday, Kurdish forces struck a desperate deal with Damascus and stepped aside to allow Syrian regime troops and allied Russian soldiers enter the border town of Kobane, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
Kobane is a highly symbolic town for Syria's Kurds, whose forces had in 2015 wrested it from the Islamic State (IS) group in an epic battle backed by the US-led coalition.
Days after 

US demands Syria ceasefire but Turkey defiant

Two Americans who run an English-teaching business in China have been detained in the east of the country, according to their company, which said they were being held on "bogus" charges.
Jacob Harlan, a father of five, and Alyssa Petersen were nabbed in Jiangsu province last month, their Idaho-based company China Horizons said on its Facebook page.
A gofundme.com page set up to raise money for Petersen's legal fees says she was formally charged with "illegally moving people across borders".
The detentions come amid diplomatic and trade tensions between China and the United States.
"We are aware of the detention of two US citizens in Jiangsu, China and the charges being brought against them by the provincial government," a US State Department official said on condition of anonymity.
"We take seriously our responsibility to assist US citizens abroad and are monitoring the situation."
China Horizons said on Facebook last week that the pair "are being charged for bogus crimes and their ...

Two Americans detained in east China

Three children were among four people killed after a powerful earthquake hit the southern Philippines, authorities said Thursday.
The 6.4-magnitude quake struck the Mindanao region, which makes up the southern third of the Philippines, on Wednesday night.
On Thursday morning, local authorities confirmed four people had been killed but said the death toll was not expected to rise significantly with no casualties reported in Mindanao's major cities.
Two of the children reported killed were in houses that collapsed, while a mother and her five-year-old son died after being buried in a landslide, local authorities told AFP.
The Philippines is part of the Pacific "Ring of Fire", an arc of intense seismic activity that stretches from Japan through Southeast Asia and across the Pacific basin.

Four dead in Philippine quake

Japan plans to postpone a major imperial parade celebrating the new emperor's ascension to the throne after nearly 80 people were killed in a devastating typhoon, local media said Thursday.
The parade was scheduled for October 22 as part of a series of events marking the official proclamation of Emperor Naruhito's enthronement. The religious rites and imperial banquet associated with the event are still expected to go ahead, national broadcaster NHK said.
"The government has begun coordinating in the direction of postponing a celebration parade that had been planned for October 22... so as to make sure they do everything they can to deal with the issues of typhoon-hit areas," NHK said.
Contacted by AFP, the imperial household agency and the government committee organising the event declined to comment on the reports.
Naruhito officially succeeded his father Akihito in May but a series of ceremonies and rites celebrating his enthronement are scheduled this month and later this year, ...

Japan plans to postpone imperial parade over typhoon: media

Ecuador on Wednesday reaffirmed the six-year prison sentence given to former vice president Jorge Glas for receiving millions of dollars in kickbacks as part of a corruption scandal, the prosecutor's office said.
Glas, who was convicted of receiving USD 13.5 million in bribes from Brazilian construction company Odebrecht, has been imprisoned in Latacunga, south of Quito, since 2017.
The National Supreme Court of Justice declared Glas's appeal inadmissible and so "the sentence was ratified," the prosecutor's office said in a statement.
He served as the vice president under leftist Rafael Correa between 2013 and 2017, and under current president Lenin Moreno in 2017 before he was stripped of his office in 2018.
Judge Daniella Camacho said his original sentence of six years did not violate any constitutional rights, the prosecutor said.
Glas, who was sentenced in December 2017, could still appeal to the Constitutional Court.
Glas is also facing prosecution for another case that could ...

Ecuador court upholds ex-vice president's prison sentence

Pro-democracy lawmakers were dragged out of Hong Kong's legislature by security guards on Thursday after they heckled the city's pro-Beijing leader for a second day running, the latest outburst of political rancour in the strife-torn city.
Chief executive Carrie Lam has faced an outpouring of anger from her opponents since the legislature opened its doors for a new session on Wednesday, three months after the building was trashed by masked protesters.
Lam was unable to give a State of the Union-style policy speech on Wednesday after pro-democracy lawmakers, who form a minority on the pro-Beijing-stacked legislature, repeatedly interrupted her.
Instead, she was forced to deliver the address in a pre-recorded video.
She returned to the Legislative Council on Thursday for a session in which she was due to answer questions from lawmakers about the content of that policy speech.
But chaos erupted once more as her political opponents chanted slogans and were dragged one by one from the ...

HK lawmakers dragged from chamber as leader heckled for second day

Manchester City's hopes of reaching the UEFA Women's Champions League quarter-finals were left on a knife-edge on Wednesday when they were held to a 1-1 draw by Atletico Madrid in the first leg of their last 16 clash.
City were 1-0 up through Canadian international Janine Beckie after 13 minutes but the Spanish visitors hit back nine minutes from the final whistle through Charlyn Corral.
Atletico, who knocked City out of last year's tournament, boasted England's Toni Duggan in their line-up.
Duggan had an early chance against her former team but blasted the ball over the crossbar.
Arsenal are well-placed to make the last eight after coming back from Slavia Prague with a 5-2 win.
Dutch international Vivianne Miedema scored four of the north Londoners' goals with three coming in a 15-minute period in the first half.
Lyon, champions in the last four seasons, also virtually made sure of their place in the quarter-finals with a 4-0 rout of Fortuna Hjorring in Denmark.
Norwegian star Ada ...

Man City held by Atletico as French sides enjoy Euro goal glut

South Korea's footballers had no idea their surreal World Cup qualifier in Pyongyang would be played in an empty stadium -- a match Tottenham Hotspur star Son Heung-min described as "very aggressive" and one official likened to warfare.
The contest against North Korea ended 0-0 on Tuesday, with FIFA president Gianni Infantino one of just a handful of spectators at a match almost completely blocked off from the outside world.
It was the first ever competitive encounter between the men's sides hosted by the North -- a historic face-off between two countries still technically at war -- but took place with no live broadcast and no foreign media in attendance.
The debacle raises doubts over the prospects for further North-South sporting co-operation, once a driver of nuclear diplomacy.
Until the very last minute, the South's team had no idea that even North Korean spectators would be absent.
"We expected 50,000 people to come pouring in once the door opened but they didn't come," said ...

Surreal North v South Korea football match 'like war'

South Korea's top court on Thursday upheld a suspended jail term for the chairman of retail giant Lotte Group over a sprawling corruption scandal that brought down former president Park Geun-hye.
Shin Dong-bin was jailed for 30 months in February last year for providing seven billion won (USD 6.2 million) to a foundation controlled by Park's secret confidante in return for government favours regarding
Lotte's duty-free business.
The firm is one of the giant family-controlled conglomerates known as "chaebol" that dominate the South Korean economy and powered a decades-long economic boom, but have long had murky ties with authorities.
Shin, 64, was among the company heads -- including Samsung heir Lee Jae-yong -- accused of bribing Park and her close friend Choi Soon-sil for state favours.
But Shin was released in October 2018 after an appeals court reduced his sentence to a suspended jail term, which was upheld by the Supreme Court on Thursday.
"We confirmed that there was no ...

S Korea top court upholds suspended term for Lotte chief

Troubled former Italian footballing giants AC Milan have suffered record losses, according to reports in Italy.
Gazzetta Dello Sport claimed that in the year to June 30, 2019, losses rose by 16 percent to 146 million (USD 162 million) euros compared to 126 million euros for the same period the previous year.
Gazzetta said the figures were far worse than the predicted loss of 90 million euros.
US hedge fund Elliott took over the debt-ridden seven-time European champions from Chinese businessman Li Yonghong in July 2018.
The club's absence from European football has had an impact on merchandising and sponsors, with income from sponsors slipping by 6.7 million euros and ticket sales down by 1.2 million euros.
However, revenues from TV rights rose from 109.3 million to 113.8 million.
Milan finished fifth in Serie A last season but surrendered their Europa League berth after breaching UEFA's financial fair play rules.
Revenues from the sale of players in particular dropped from 42 million .

AC Milan suffer record 146 million euro losses - reports

All-rounder Mitchell Marsh is set to miss the opening Test against Pakistan after fracturing his right hand punching a wall, with Australian coach Justin Langer branding him "an idiot".
The Western Australia captain took his frustrations out in the changing rooms after he was dismissed for 53 in a Sheffield Shield match against Tasmania on Sunday.
Scans revealed a fracture, and an apologetic Marsh said he faced up to six weeks on the sidelines.
That would almost certainly rule him out of the opening Test against Pakistan in Brisbane starting on November 21.
"It's my middle finger, just below the wrist -- a fracture straight through the bone," Marsh, who was sporting a cast on his arm, told reporters.
Asked if he had spoken to Langer, Marsh replied: "He just told me I'm an idiot basically."
Marsh had only been recalled to the Test side for the final game of the Ashes against England last month after a long period out of favour and there are no guarantees he will win a spot back.
"It's .

'Idiot' Marsh set to miss Pakistan Test after punching wall

US authorities are disputing the account of two British couples who say they were held in dire conditions with their three young children for two weeks after mistakenly straying into the US from Canada.
US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) arrested the seven family members on October 2 for entering the country unlawfully from British Columbia where they were vacationing.
The two couples said they ended up in the United States inadvertently after swerving down a road along the US-Canadian border to avoid hitting an animal.
They were deported overnight Tuesday and were back in Britain Wednesday, said immigration attorneys with Aldea -- The People's Justice Center, a legal group that assisted them.
But officials have disputed the family's account of events, saying their vehicle was seen on video "slowly and deliberately" driving across the border.
"A vehicle was observed via remote video surveillance system turning west onto Avenue 0 in British Columbia, Canada," CPB said in a ...

Dispute over British family who say they strayed into US

From children's books about reducing plastic to tips for zero-waste cooking, the climate crisis is dominating this year's Frankfurt book fair.
Here's a look at how the world's biggest publishing event is galvanising readers young and old into environmental action, on and off the page.
At the age of just 23, Luisa Neubauer is Germany's best-known climate activist after becoming a central figure in the Fridays for Future strikes started by Swedish teen Greta Thunberg.
At the Frankfurt fair, the fast-talking university student famed for her no-nonsense attitude and meticulous research will go head-to-head with a local politician in a debate about coal mines, and present her own book about the climate emergency.
"When you look at what's happening with our planetary system, of course that's scary. The question is what do you do about it," Neubauer said in a video recorded for the fair.
"Maybe we do need some kind of rebellion or revolution."
That teens around the world are ringing the ...

Climate crisis spurs action at 'green' Frankfurt book fair

Thirty-five foreigners were killed and four others injured when a bus crashed with another heavy vehicle in the Muslim holy city of Medina, Saudi state media said on Thursday.
The accident on Wednesday involved a collision between "a private chartered bus... with a heavy vehicle (loader)" in the western Saudi Arabian city, a spokesman for Medina police said, according to the official Saudi Press Agency.
Those involved were Arab and Asian pilgrims, according to local media, who carried pictures of the bus engulfed in flames and with its windows blown out.
The injured have been transferred to Al-Hamna Hospital, SPA added, and authorities have launched an investigation.
As part of efforts to diversify its oil-dependent economy, Saudi Arabia wants to foster a year-round religious tourism sector that includes millions of pilgrims.

35 foreigners dead in Saudi bus crash: state media

Washington is inching toward an agreement with Paris and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development on taxing global tech giants, US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Wednesday.
A resolution would ease long-standing transatlantic friction over imposing taxes on tech multinationals, the largest of which are US-based but operate worldwide.
"We don't yet have an agreement, but we are getting closer in that direction," Mnuchin told reporters.
French lawmakers earlier this year adopted their own digital tax, targeting gross revenues rather than profits, drawing threats from US President Donald Trump to put new tariffs on French wine.
But in August, France agreed to refund taxes collected in excess of a yet-to-be-decided international formula, French Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire told AFP at the time.
The US wants an over-arching agreement on taxation of digital commerce through the Group of 20 economic forum, under the auspices of the OECD.
Under EU law, American ..

US, France and OECD 'getting closer' to tech tax agreement: Mnuchin

Former US president Barack Obama on Wednesday urged Canadian voters to back Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for another term, calling him an "effective leader." "I was proud to work with
Justin Trudeau as President. He's a hard-working, effective leader who takes on big issues like climate change," Obama said in a tweet.
"The world needs his progressive leadership now, and I hope our neighbors to the north support him for another term." Trudeau, who is running neck-and-neck with Conservative leader Andrew Scheer ahead of the October 21 ballot, tweeted back: "Thanks my friend, we're working hard to keep our progress going." His Liberal Party also promoted the endorsement on social media.
The pair first met as leaders of their respective countries at an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in November 2015, one month after the Canadian won his first general election.
Four months later, Trudeau became the first Canadian leader in 20 years to make an official pomp-filled visit to 

Obama urges Canadians to back Trudeau for another term

Airbus chief executive Guillaume Faury urged the European Union and United States Wednesday to reach a negotiated solution to a long-running dispute over airline subsidies and tariffs, saying there would be no winners in a trade war in the sector.
"The EU and US administrations should freeze all tariffs and sit round the table to negotiate a mutually acceptable solution," Faury said in an article to be published in Thursday's edition of the French economic daily, Les Echos, but released in advance.
On Monday, the World Trade Organization arbitrator gave Washington the green light to slap tariffs on $7.5 billion (6.8 billion euros) worth of EU imports, in retaliation for illegal EU subsidies to Airbus.
It was a landmark moment in the 15-year legal battle between the European planemaker and US counterpart Boeing.
In the immediate line of fire are civilian aircraft from Britain, France, Germany and Spain -- the countries which formed Airbus -- which will cost 10 percent more when ...

AFP

AFP

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